An owl perches on one of our high tunnels. It could be the harbinger of a cold December, but perhaps it’s just pondering why our chickens are so smart. The chickens aren’t smart (they have doors that close at night, and a solar powered electric fence that moves with their barns). But, what the owl doesn’t realize is that in our 4 unheated tunnels, we have more winter greens that we’ve ever had before. And today, we are moving three caterpillar tunnels for winter greens that were planted in both our fields in August. This year will mark the third year of winter growing for us, and only the second year we have a Winter Farm Membership. It’s still an exciting adventure with tons to learn, and we hope you’ll consider joining us, after your main season membership wraps up next week! There will be a one-week break, with the winter membership starting November 10th.

We had rave reviews of the winter farm membership last year, but we’ve made a few changes that will make it even better. We’ve kept the ratio of storage and fresh crops similar, planted even more fresh greens, and divided the winter up into terms, with the first term being seven weeks. In mid-December we’ll assess the greens and storage crops to decide if anything needs to adjust for a second winter term, and give you the option to sign on for that one separately. We’ve also reduced the cost (and the weekly volume of food) just a bit, to help make it more accessible to all sizes of households.

We’re increasing the number of shares available this year, but it is still a smaller group than our full-season membership, so we offer sign-ups to current members first (you have 2-3 days of exclusive access), before opening it up to the full email list and new members. We hope as many of you as possible will continue on into the cold months with us!

This winter farm, as we often refer to it, has become an increasingly important part of our operation. It helps keep year round, serious farm hands that are dedicated to the craft of organic farming. It also helps cover the costs of our infrastructure, which, with our new packshed (we call it the Foodshed).